For once, hacks taking it on the chin

For many years, when it came to public hiring in Massachusetts, you didn't get a job based on what you knew — it was who you knew.

Judges were good. Politicians were better, depending on their post. Even a friend's cousin could be helpful if she had the ear of a powerful contact.

It was never a secret. But now it's a scandal, thanks to the stunning conviction of former probation commissioner John J. O'Brien, who was found guilty of doling out jobs like breath mints to the politically connected.

Wait, you may wonder. That's a crime? So pervasive is the patronage system in Massachusetts that we all know someone who was hired based on connections. Heck, maybe you were hired that way. If you work for the Probation Department, the odds just increased exponentially. Ditto for the trial courts and other state agencies, where only fools would seek jobs without a contact.

The defense attorneys argued that political patronage isn't illegal. Unfair and unethical, sure, but no crime here, folks. Everyone does it.

Jurors disagreed. They said O'Brien ran a patronage system on steroids, creating a scheme in which he gave jobs to the friends of politicians, who in return routinely boosted the Probation Department budget.

"These things have been going on a long time," a juror told The Boston Globe. "Hopefully there's going to be some major changes. I think it's a wake-up to our government in general."

Few are blameless in creating the perception that the system is rigged. While O'Brien's criminal enterprise was massive, smaller patronage handouts result in widespread cynicism as well.

At the Worcester Housing Authority, Ray Mariano has largely done a terrific job as executive director, but he's not immune to handing out favors.

In 2009, he hired a former cop named Brian Benedict as tenant coordinator. Benedict is the son of a retired police sergeant who Mariano knew when he served as Worcester's mayor. Benedict was also a convicted felon who was sentenced to federal prison in 2007 for aiding a drug ring when he was a Worcester police officer.

After he served five months in prison, Benedict called Mariano and landed a job. Just like that. Granted, it was a low-level job that paid about $15 an hour. At the time, Mariano said he wanted to give Benedict a second chance and that the job wasn't permanent.

Flash forward to this spring, when Benedict is still employed in the job that wasn't permanent. Now, though, someone filed a complaint accusing Benedict of stealing prescription drugs from tenants' apartments, and the WHA launched an internal investigation. Shortly after, Benedict was laid off.

In an interview last week, Mariano said he couldn't discuss personnel issues or reveal the results of the internal probe. But he stressed that Benedict wasn't fired and said he did an "outstanding job" for the WHA. The layoff, he said, was a result of finances.

"I don't regret hiring him," Mariano said. "He left as an employee in good standing, with my good wishes. If he wasn't, he would have been terminated." Benedict declined to comment when contacted last week.

I have little reason to doubt Mariano, who is a tough boss. The problem is that he hired the connected Benedict in the first place, likely leap-frogging qualified candidates who have never broken the law. So when suspicions arise, everyone naturally assumes the worst.

The O'Brien verdict was a win for the little guy. We'll never eliminate hacks, but maybe the message will resonate throughout Beacon Hill and beyond, so that qualifications will someday mean more than political clout, and the buddy system is no longer business as usual.